MORGANTOWN — Miami (OH) head coach Glenn Box wore a sweatshirt and a beanie to his press conference, but he was all business when he took the podium. He was a few minutes early ahead of his 4:05 p.m. set time.
Right from the jump, you could tell that Box was serious when he spoke, and he didn’t give off the impression that it was his school’s first time since 2008 that it was in the NCAA Tournament.
Box has been to a couple of NCAA Tournaments as an assistant, but never with the RedHawks. He spoke like a seasoned veteran.
He didn’t show concern that the RedHawks were the No. 13 seed and were matched up against the host school of No. 4 West Virginia, the reigning Big 12 Tournament Champions. He’s not worried that there’ll be thousands of WVU fans in what is expected to be a packed Hope Coliseum.
All Box was focused on was his team, not the seeding, the crowd or any of the outside noise. After a press conference talking about how talented WVU was and the odds being stacked against them, which most sportsbooks have Miami as a 26.5-point underdog, Box set the tone.
“We’re here now,” Box said. “We don’t have any intention of taking a step back. Matter of fact, we welcome the 10,000 people here. I want the whole state of West Virginia here.”
It was the lasting impression of his 13-minute press conference. He believed Miami, who won the MAC, belonged and could compete with the Mountaineers.
Box still showed respect and noted WVU is the best team in the region, with a 27-6 record and the No. 11 AP rankings. His team is cognisant that the Mountaineers are one of the most talented teams on the defensive side of the ball in women’s basketball.
WVU has the 37th-ranked scoring defense in the nation. The Mountaineers are one of the best at creating turnovers and quickly scoring off them.
”Obviously, their pressure game is pretty good,” Box said. “They’re able to force a lot of steals and create a lot of havoc, especially at home. Our ability to handle their pressure is paramount. We’ve been prepping for a week. I feel very confident, and we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do. They have a mixture of defenses that they utilize. We’re prepared. We know how to handle things.”
The Mountaineers’ point guard Jordan Harrison is the focal point of the defense. She was named the Big 12’s Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison averaged 3.3 steals per game.
Box’s players echoed a similar message. It won’t be so much focusing on her, but making sure they take care of business first, handling the ball with care.
“She’s a good defensive player, but I feel like they’re a good team defensively,” guard Tamar Singer said. “They’re just good in defense, and we know that. We just need to take care of the ball. We will pay attention to her, because she, like you said, she’s a big player, but in general, we just need to do a better job.”
The focus isn’t on who is across from them. The RedHawks know they have a strong defense of their own. Obviously, they haven’t faced the caliber of offenses as WVU, but out of their conference, they were the top defensive team and forced a lot of turnovers. The focus is on themselves. When most of the nation, sportsbooks and crowd are against you, it’s what you have to fall back on.
Box knows his team is mature and ready for the challenge.
“We recognize it’s going to be a monumental task, but you can’t achieve great things if you know you’re immature,” Box said. “I think that we have a mature ball club. I really feel strongly that they have a high sense of belief, and that’s what it takes.”
Box’s players are in lockstep and believe they can shock the Coliseum crowd and play spoiler for host WVU.
“You would think that we would be intimidated, but honestly, we’ve kind of been in this spot all year,” guard Amber Scalia said. “Box says it all the time. We have been the No. 1 seed all year, and then going into the tournament, just being the No. 1 seed, like, it’s a lot of pressure. I think we’ve handled it really well. Coming into this game, we know no one is going to be on our side, but honestly, we haven’t really talked about all that much. We just know that we need to be poised and ready to go.”
